The Arizona Wildcats looked great in their first two games of the 2024-25 college basketball season, blowing out the Canisius Golden Griffins and Old Dominion Monarchs in Tuscon.
They knew tougher times lay ahead, as their non-conference schedule was going to ramp up.
In their third game of the year, they faced a stiff test by heading on the road to the Kohl Center to play against the Wisconsin Badgers.
Despite not being ranked to start the season, Wisconsin is a consistently good program.
Under Greg Gard they have made the NCAA Tournament five out of eight years and would have been a sixth had it not been canceled in 2020. Prior to that, they had a stretch of 19 consecutive tournament appearances.
This year’s team looks like it will be a very good one again, as they pulled off the impressive upset over the Wildcats.
Arizona couldn’t get a stop, losing the game 103-88.
Wisconsin senior guard John Tonje scored 41 points, shooting 8-of-14 from the field and 4-of-6 from 3-point range. He made a living at the foul line, where he made 21-of-22 attempts.
The Wildcats star guard, Caleb Love, had an off night.
He was 2-of-13 from the field and 0-for-6 from long range, as Jaden Bradley did what he could to make up for Love’s struggles by scoring a team-high 22 points.
With the loss, Arizona’s record fell to 2-1 on the season and they plummeted in the AP Poll Top 25.
They entered the week ranked No. 9, but are now No. 17.
“Friday’s loss to Wisconsin was brutal for the Wildcats, who allowed 103 points — the most they’ve let an opponent score in a game since a four-OT loss against USC in 2016, and the most in a non-overtime game since the 2009 Sweet 16, when they lost 103-64 to No. 1 Louisville. Those 103 points are almost as many as Arizona had allowed in its first two games combined this season (108),” as written over at ESPN in their reactionary piece to the rankings.
Tommy Lloyd’s squad is going to have ample opportunities to move back up the rankings.
This week, they will host the Duke Blue Devils at the McKale Memorial Center to finish up a home-and-home that began last season.
The Blue Devils already had motivation heading into the matchup after dropping the matchup last year at Cameron Indoor.
They are also looking to prove something after a drop in the rankings following last week’s loss to the Kentucky Wildcats in the State Farm Champions Classic.
